lex  Hilirifi 

SEYMOUR  DURST 

  -  I 


"Tort  nieM4.ii  t  imjlerdam  ojr  J*  Manhatans 


IVhen  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
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Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


http://archive.org/details/advantagesofpropOOmorr 


THE  ADVANTAGES 


OF  THE 

» 

PROPOSED  CANAL 

FROM  LAKE  ERIE,  TO  HUDSON'S  RIVER, 

FULLY  ILLUSTRATED  IN  A  CORRESPONDENCE 
BETWEEN 

The  Hon.  Gouverneur  Morris, 

AND 

Bobert  Fulton,  Esq. 


£  ^ 


Advantages  of  the  Proposed  Canal,  &c. 


NEW- FORK,  February  22d,  1814. 

To  Gauverneur  Morris,  Esq.  President  of  the  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  the  Western  Canal. 

SIR, 

Numerous  engagements  have  hitherto  prevented  my  pay- 
ing that  attention  to  the  report  of  the  commissioners  which  the 
importance  of  the  subject  merits  ;  but  that  you  may  have  evi- 
dence of  my  desire  to  give  all  the  aid  in  my  power,  to  an  enter- 
prise so  sublime,  (for  I  deem  that  a  sublime  national  work,  which 
will  secure  wealth,  ease  and  happiness  to  millions,)  I  have 
transmitted  to  writing  some  observations,  which,  should  you 
consider  them  of  any  utility,  you  will  make  use  of,  as  you  think 
proper. 

In  the  report  of  March,  1812,  page  9,  the  commissioners 
gave  calculations  on  the  expense  of  conveyance  by  canals,  which 
calculations  were  drawn  from  the  experience  acquired  on  canals 
in  England,  as  to  the  quantity  of  work  that  two  horses  and 
three  men  could  do  in  eight  hours  ;  to  which  adding  the  wear 
and  tear  of  the  boat  and  canal,  the  decay  of  horses,  and  in- 
terest on  the  capital  expended,  in  purchasing  horses  and  boats, 
also  the  profit  on  the  boat,  and  the  wages,  which  are  high- 
er in  this  country  than  in  England,  it  is  shewn  that  the  total  ex- 
pense amounts  to  no  more  than  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile.  As 
I  passed  three  years  at  various  canals  in  England,  to  obtain  prac- 
tical knowledge  on  the  manner  of  constructing  them,  and  to 
make  myself  familiar  wTith  their  advantages,  and  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  some  of  the  best  engineers,  I  know  this  calcula- 
tion to  be  correct.  Hence  one  cent  per  ton  per  mile,  is  one 
dollar  a  ton  for  100  miles,  while  the  usual  cost  of  waggoning  is 
one  dollar  and  sixty  cents  per  hundred  weight  for  100  miles,  or 
thirty-two  dollars  a  ton.  It  consequently  follows,  that  on  a  ca- 
nal, a  ton  weight  could  be  boated  3*200  miles  for  the  sum  now 
paid  to  waggon  it  100  miles  ;  and  the  persons  at  3200  miles 


4 


from  a  good  sea  port,  would  have  all  the  advantages  of  trade,  0| 
of  bringing  their  produce  to  market,  h  hie h  those  who  re>ide 
only  100  miles  frpm  market  now  enjoy,  provided  the  canal 
were  toll  free. 

Therefore,  as  cheapness  of  transport,  united  to  safety  and  cer- 
tainty, are  the  great  objects  of  all  public  improvement  in  canals, 
rail  ways  and  roads,  the  one  cent  p<  r  ton  per  mile  is  the  most 
powerful  argument  in  favor  of  canals,  and  must  ever  be  present 
in  ihe  mind  of  the  political  economist,  in  all  his  reflections  and 
reasonings  on  the  advantages  of  such  works.  From  tlii^  "lu- 
cent per  ton  per  mile,  I  will  draw  some  interesting  calculations 
on  the  present  price  of  freight  in  sloops  on  Ilml><>n\  river,  be- 
tween New-York  and  Albany,  and  shew  that  it  could  be  done 
much  cheaper  by  a  canal  ;the  proof  of  them  will  be  conclusive, 
that  if  a  canal  can  give  advantages  superior  to  sloop  navigation 
on  Hudson's  river,  which  is  one  of  the  most  rectilinear  and  best 
in  the  world,  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  one  contem- 
plated must  be  vastly  superior  to  every  kind  of  road,  river  01 
lake  communication  from  Lake  Erie  to  Hudson's  river. 

The  usual  price  of  freight  from  Albany  to  New- York,  is, 
For  a  barrel  of  flour,  from  -  •  25  to  2s  6(1 

do.      do.       Pot-ashes,  -  3 

do.      do.       Pork,  ...  3 

To  avoid  errors,  I  will  state  the  average  charge  at  2s  Cd.  the 
barrel,  ;.nd  allow  ten  barrels  to  one  ton  weight.*  Thus  a  canal 
boat  of  fifty  tons,  would  carry  five  hundred  barrels,  which  at  ten 
dollars  a  day  in  expense,  and  twenty  miles  in  speed,  would  ar- 
rive from  Albany  in  eight  days  for  eighty  dollars,  and  as  stated 
in  the  report  referred  to,  would  amount  to  one  cent  per  ton  per 
mile,  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  cents  for  ten  barrels  from  Al- 
bany to  New-York  ;  equal  sixteen  cents  a  barrel,  instead  of 
thirty  paid  to  sloops,  thereby  producing  a  saving  of  fourteen 
cents  a  barrel,  or  one  hundred  and  forty  cents  a  ton. 

It  is  now  to  be  seen  what  this  economy  would  amount  to  on 
the  whole  number  of  tons  carried  on  Hudson's  river  in  one  sea- 
son. From  the  returns  of  the  custom-house,  I  find  that  four 
hundred  sloops  or  vessels  of  every  description  are  employed, 
averaging  sixty  tons  burthen  ;  those  that  trade  to  Albany  make 

*  Pot-  Jsh  and  Beef  barrels  -weigh  more  than  Flour,  bnt  cotton  bags  and 
bales  of  dry  goods  weigti  less  ;  for  equal  bidk,  the  flour  barrel  is  a  fair  average . 


eleven  trips  up  and  eleven  trips  down,  in  a  season ;  those  that 
trade  to  Newburgh,  Poughkeepsie  and  other  landings,  make 
more  voyages,  and  hence,  the  whole  may  be  averaged  at  equal 
twenty-one  trips  between  New- York  and  Albany,  each  sixty 
tons  a  trip,  would  amount  to  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
sixty  tons  a  year,  and  the  four  hundred  vessels  would  carry 
five  hundi'ed  and  four  thousand  tons  of  every  kind  of  material  ; 
but  as  they  return  from  New- York  not  more  than  half  loaded,  I 
will  estimate  the  average  trips  at  forty-five  tons,  or  a  total  ireight 
of  thirty-nine  thousand  three  hundred  tons,  on  which  the  econo- 
my of  one  hundred  and  forty  cents  a  ton,  gives  five  hundred  an;! 
fifty  thousand  two  hundred  dollars  in  favor  of  the  canal  ;  which 
is  interest  at  ten  per  cent,  for  five  millions  five  hundred  and  two 
thousand  dollars,  equal  thirty-four  thousand  three  hundred  and 
twenty-seven  dollars  a  mile  for  constructing  the  caual,  a  sum 
more  than  sufficient  for  that  purpose. 

If  it  be  admitted  that  the  four  hundred  sloops  cost  on  an  ave- 
rage three  thousand  dollars,  their  capital  is  one  million  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  on  which  the  wear  and  tear,  at  fifteen  per 
cent,  is  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

A  canal  boat  of  fifty  tons,  can  make  a  trip  to  and  from  Albany 
in  twenty-four  days,  allowing  time  to  load  and  unload  ;  in  which 
time  she  would  transport  seventy -five  tons,  allowing  only  or.e 
half  for  return  cargo;  she  could  make  eleven  such  trips  in  a 
season,  carrying  eight  hundred  and  twenty-five  tons  ;  and  four 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  boats  would  be  adequate  to  the 
transport  of  the  three  thousand  ninety- three  tons  before  estima- 
ted for  the  sloops,  each  canal  boat  would  cost  five  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  the  total  number  two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thou- 
sand five  hundred  dollars,  instead  of  one  million  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  the  expense  of  the  sloops.  On  the  canal  boat?, 
the  wear  and  tear  would  not  be  more  than  ten  per  cent,  because 
there  are  no  sails  or  cordage.  These  annual  repairs  would  there- 
fore be  twenty-three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
instead  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  dollars,  the  repair 
of  the  sloops  ;  giving  an  economy  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year  ou  wear  and  tear 
only  ;  the  other  great  expense  of  sloops  or  river  craft  over  that 
of  canal  boats,  is  in  wages.  Sloops  which  cost  from  three  to 
five  thousand  dollars,  require  men  of  some  capital  to  build  them, 


0 


who  expect  at  least  twenty  per  cent,  per  annum  on  their  firbt 
cust,  or,  on  the  one  million  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  two 
hundred  and  forty  thousand  dollars.  A  river  vessel  must  also 
have  a  captain  and  pilot  of  some  talents  and  consideration,  with 
pay  superior  to  canal  boatmen.  The  river  craft  must  have 
more  hands  to  do  the  like  quantity  of  work,  hence  the  four  hun- 
dred captains,  averaging  a  pay  ol  five  hundred  dollars  each  per 
annum,  which  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  more  than  re- 
<  eived  by  canal  boatmen,  is  per  annum,         -  $  48,000 

The  superior  number  of  hands  to  the  sloops,  may 
be  estimated  at  one  to  each  sloop,  whose  wages, 
three  hundred  and  sixty -live  dollars  a  year,  is*      #  1  16,000 


$  194,000 

Economy  of  interest  on  capital,  as  before  stated,        #  1 06,1  j0 
Interest  to  the  ow  ners  of  the  sloops  on  the  capi- 
tal advanced  at  twenty  per  cent,  -  £240,000 


%  600,000 


This  result  approaches  the  ;id  vantages  in  favor  of  the 

canal  as  before  stated. 
That  the  owners  of  water-craft  must  have  this  twen- 
ty per  cent  on  their  capital  is  obvious;  for  if  an 
old  stone  sloop  cost  six  hundred  dollars,  and  has 
but  two  men  and  a  boy,  twenty  per  cent,  would  be 
but  -  -  -  -  $  120 

Admitting  the  captain's  wages  to  be  superior,  captains 

having  more,  -  £  400 

Pilot,  -  -  -  *  300 

Boy,  -  -  -  -  $200 

Wear  on  the  sloop  at  fifteen  per  cent         -  $  90 

Total,  $  1110, 

i  >r  the  maintenance  of  3  persons  and  their  families,  also  interest 
on  the  capital,  and  the  wear  of  the  sloop. 

But  if  the  present  population  gives  this  important  trade  to  160 
miles  of  sloop  navigation,  may  we  not  look  forward  with  perfect 
confidence  to  that  of  the  !iext  20  years  for  producing  a  trade 

*  Although  the  sloops  are  worked  only  eight  motiths,  the  earnings  should  bt 

such  as  to  maintain  the  man  for  a  year. 


i 


which  if  required  will  pay  ample  interest  on  the  capital  to  be 
expended  in  executing  the  canal. 

Had  it  pleased  the  Author  of  the  Universe  to  have  drawn 
Hudson's  river  from  Lake  Erie,  a  calm  and  gentle  stream  of  10 
feet  water,  the  reflecting  mind  would  contemplate  with  gratitude 
the  Divine  munificence  ;  and  he  who  feels,  that  160  miles  of  na- 
vigation on  Hudson's  river  is  a  blessing  to  this  state,  would  com- 
pare the  successive  range  of  extended  benefits  and  draw  exact 
estimates  of  national  wealth  from  160  miles  of  easy  communica- 
tion to  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior. 

For  if  Hudson's  river  collecting  freight  from  its  surrounding 
country,  and  an  interior  not  more  distant  than  Cayuga  or  Onta- 
rio, now  bears  on  its  waters  near  400,000  tons  per  annum,  where 
shall  the  mind  be  arrested;  on  what  number  of  tons  shall  it 
dwell  ?  when  coming  from  the  population  of  the  next  20  years, 
and  the  countries  which  surround  Lake  Superior,  Michigan, 
Huron  and  Erie,  and  a  canal  of  300  miles  through  a  fertile  coun- 
try ?  Compared  with  th?  trade  now  on  Hudson's  river,  it  can- 
not be  less  than  a  million  of  tons  each  year  :  And  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons  :  Where  the  canal  unites  to  the  Hudson's  river, 
the  man  who  lives  10  miles  from  the  river  and  10  from  the  ca* 
nal,  will,  when  he  has  his  produce  in  a  waggon,  go  direct  to  the 
river ;  but  he  who  lives  30  miles  from  the  river  and  5  from  the 
canal,  will  carry  it  to  the  canal ;  and  he  who  lives  50  miles  from 
the  river,  will  go  30  to  the  canal ;  he  who  lives  300  miles  from 
the  river,  will  waggon  his  produce  100  miles  to  the  canal ;  thus 
the  canal  would  draw  in  the  trade  of  a  country  forming  a  triangle, 
with  a  base  line  200  miles  long,  and  from  thence  to  the  apex  300 
miles,  equal  a  range  of  country  300  miles  long,  100  miles  wide, 
or  30,000  square  miles. 

Equal,  Acres,  19,200,000 

Lake  Erie  will  draw  in  the  trade  for  100  miles 
round  its  margin  ;  Huron  and  Michigan  from  a 
like  distance,  Lake  Superior  from  150  miles,  all 
of  which  may  be  estimated  at  30,000,000 

Total,  Acres,  49,200,000 

a  quantity,  if  I  recollect  right,  not  far  short  of  the  whole  of  Eng- 
land (  rthur  Young  states,  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland  con- 
tain 90  millions  of  acres.) 


The  population  of  England  is  about  one  soul  to  6  acres,  and 

their;  c.m  be  no  doubt  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  popular 
tion iia  the  countries  here  indicated  w  ill  be  1  to  10  acres,  or 
4,920,000  persons;  a  number  equal  to  hall*  the  population  of 

England,  whose  industry  and  necessities  must  cause  more  than 
1  million  of  ions  to  move  through  the  canal  in  a  season;  which 
million  o  tons,  Carried  al  so  low  a  rate  as  to  enable  ever)  thing 
Useful  lo  come  to  market,  would  also  produce  abundant  interest 
of  the  Capital  expended  ;  for  at  one  cent  a  ton  per  miL  in  ex- 
pences,  the  transport  on  300  miles  of  canal,  would 

tiott,  $  3  00 

And  from  Albany  to  New-I  ork,  2  60 


Total,  |  5  50 

or  55  cents  a  barrel ;  if  then  60  cents  for  toll  were  charged  on 
each  barrel,  or  25  cents  a  hundred  on  merchandize  and  other 
material*  for  passing  through  the  canal,  still  the  barrel  or  200 
weight  would  arrive  at  New- York  for  1  dollar  50  cents  ;  which 
50  cents  toll  or  5  dollars  a  ton,  would,  on  one  million  of  tons, 
give  5  millions  of  dollars  a  year,  or  50  per  cent  for  10  millions  to 
make  the  canal ;  admitting  that  from  Lake  Superior  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  canal  at  Lake  Erie,  the  expense  should  be  1 
dollar  a  barrel,  it  would  arrive  at  New-York,  from  that  distant 
region,  1 ,000  miles,  for  two  dollars  ;  the  price  which  it  now 
costs  to  waggon  a  barrel  of  flour  about  130  miles,  at  which  dis- 
tance the  expence  of  coming  to  market  checks  agriculture  and 
the  improvement  of  the  country  ;  therefore  this  canal  and  pas- 
sage through  Lake  Erie  into  Lake  Superior  will  ever  be  cheap- 
er than  tiansporton  our  much  admired  river  3Iississippi,  even 
when  she  shall  have  the  advantage  of  steam-boats.  For  front 
Louisville  to  New-Orleans,  a  distance  of  1,545  miles,  the  freight 
is  1  dollar  50  cents  a  barrel,  but  to  come  up  from  New- Orleans 
to  Louisville,  it  is  four  and  a  half  dollars  a  hundred  weight,  or  9 
dollars  a  barrel. 

Hence  this  great  work  would,  as  a  lucrative  speculation  for,  a 
comp  my  of  subscribers,  be  superior  to  any  banking  association 
or  is  orated  body  now  known,  and  in  every  point  of  view  is 
worth)  this  great  state  ;  by  drawing  forth  its  resources  and 
th<  irfcer  states  into  and  through  this  state  ;  as  a  source  of 

abundant  revenue  obtained  by  the  economy  of  labor,  and  con- 


9 


s'equently  a  clear  gain  to  the  state,  as  a  means  of  strength  by 
consolidating  population,  and  as  an  immense  object  of  real  glory? 
avast  and  noble  example  to  our  sister  states.  Such  are  the 
conquests  worthy  of  a  great  and  enlightened  people,  conquests 
as  lasting  as  the  waters  that  nourish  them,  and  of  which  we  could 
never  be  deprived. 

All  that  is  left  honorable  of  the  fame  of  Louis  the  XlVth  is 
the  canal  of  Languedock  and  his  public  highways  ;  his  mili- 
tary conquests  were  lost  before  he  died  ;  his  canal  and  roads 
alone  remain  blessings  to  France. 

Not  more  than  40  years  ago,  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater,  re» 
gardless  of  public  prejudice,  constructed  the  first  canal  in  Eng- 
land, in  length  about  30  miles';  it  gave  him  immortality  and 
130,000  dollars  a  year;  his  success  and  good  example  have 
been  the  cause  of  many  hundred  miles  being  since  executed  in 
various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  on  which  the  easy  conveyance  of 
the  ponderous  articles  of  agriculture,  manufactures  and  com- 
merce, has  greatly  promoted  the  improvements  of  that  country, 
and  added  to  her  wealth  and  power. 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  that  his  canal  runs  nearly  parallel  to  the 
river  Mersey,  the  former  channel  of  communication  from  Man- 
chester to  Liverpool ;  it  was,  therefore,  thought  absurd  to  con- 
tend that  a  canal  should  rival  river  navigation  ;  as  some  persons 
now  believe  it  visionary  to  cut  a  canal  any  where  bordering  on 
our  lakes  ;  but  the  river  Mersey,  like  our  lakes,  was  an  imper- 
fect navigation,  embarrassed  by  uncertainty  and  risque  ;  the 
canal  was  without  risque  and  certain  to  deliver  the  goods  at  a  gi- 
ven place  in  the  appointed  time  ;  it  therefore  drew  the  trade 
from  the  river  and  left  it  a  deserted  stream.  In  fact,  that  a  com- 
munication may  be  perfect,  the  trade  must  pass  with  equal  ease 
each  way  ;  it  must  not  be  subject  to  the  impediments  of  calms 
or  contrary  winds  on  the  lakes  ;  or  what  is  worse,  to  freshets, 
floods  or  shoals,  which  are  common  to  fresh  water  rivers. 

But  seeing  our  vast  lakes  and  rivers,  there  is  nothing  more 
natural,  than  to  associate  the  idea  of  navigation  with  them,  and 
lead  the  mind  on  through  locks  to  Ontario,  and  along  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Quebeck  ;  but  the  best  of  all  practice,  the  practice 
of  English  and  Dutch  canals,  have  proved  how  vastly  inferior 
such  communications  are  to  the  one  contemplated ;  and  the 


II) 


calculations  which  1  here  submit,  will,  I  hope,  make  it  clear  to 
every  unbiassed  mind  ;  but  were  the  conveyance  by  the  lakes 
and  St.  Lawrence  more  perfect  than  it  ever  can  be,  and  Canada 
ours,  it  could  never  be  good  policy  in  New-York,  to  let  so  im- 
mense a  trade  go  by  that  course,  to  the  infinite  injury  of  this 
state.  1  have  shewn,  and  I  hope  clearly,  that  were  the  intend- 
cd  canal  to  cost  10  millions  of  dollars,  it  would,  in  a  few  years, 
produce  5  millions  a  year  ;  but  say  3  millions,  then  It  would  pay 
its  capital  in  less  than  four  years,  and  give  a  revenue  to  this 
state  without  a  tax,  of  from  3  to  5  millions  a  year,  with  which 
income  this  state  might  proceed  w  ith  other  and  greater  im- 
provements to  its  own  glory,  and  incalculable  benefit.  A  canal 
is  in  reality,  like  a  great  labor-saving  machine  in  the  possession 
of  a  prudent  and  skilful  manufacturer ;  the  ceconomy  and  profits 
of  which  arc  applied  to  extending  his  works  and  increasing  bis 
capital.  Here  the  state  is  proprietor,  and  possesses  the  capital 
to  execute  a  work,  which,  1  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  would  be  an 
inexhaustible  mine  of  wealth,  that  in  a  few  years  would  give  to 
this  state  the  most  refined  order  of  public  improvement  ;  for  if 
my  calculations  be  correct,  and  I  challenge  any  one  to  confute 
them  on  principles  of  increasing  population  and  industry  ;  the 
canal  yielding  5  millions  a  year,  would,  in  twenty  years,  give 
one  hundred  millions,  to  be  expended  in  other  canals,  bridges, 
roads  and  improvements ;  w  hat  could  be  done  with  1 00  millions 
of  dollars  ?  All  reflecting  men  can  conceive  and  calculate. 

By  this  statement  you  will  perceive,  that  I  am  not  for  a  canal 
free  of  toll  ;  my  reason  is,  that  the  whole  inhabitants  of  the 
state  being  responsible  for  the  necessary  funds  to  construct  it, 
or  the  interest  thereon,  they  who  benefit  by  the  canal  should  pay 
such  toll  as  will  return  the  interest  ;  and  not  only  so,  but  they 
should  pay  at  least  as  much  toll  as  I  have  stated,  which  still 
leaves  them  an  immense  advantage  in  coming  to  market,  yet 
produces  an  ample  fund  for  other  improvements.  It  is  there- 
fore, I  think,  evident,  that  if  a  reasonable  toll  can  produce  an 
annual  income  which  in  time  will  improve  the  whole  state,  it  is 
the  interest  of  the  whole  state  that  the  canal  should  be  made 
and  the  toll  laid. 

My  estimate  of  1  million  of  tons  a  year  is  for  9  months  equal 
3703  tons  a  day,  or  74  boats  a  day,  to  pass  the  locks  at  12  mi- 


11 


nutes  for  each  boat,  will  require  from  14  to  15  hours,  or  a  dou- 
ble range  of  locks.  On  this  subject,  and  the  manner  of  execut- 
ing the  canal,  I  will  perhaps,  at  a  future  day,  trouble  you  with 
another  letter. 

I  am,  Sir, 
Respectfully, 

Your  most  obedient, 

ROBERT  FULTON. 


Morrisania,  March  3,  1814. 

SIR, 

I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  of  the  22d  of  last 
month,  which  I  consider  as  so  valuable,  that  I  shall  transmit  a 
copy  to  Albany,  that  it  may  be  communicated  to  members  of 
the  legislature,  without  stopping  to  examine  minutely  your  cal- 
culations, in  the  persuasion  that  they  are  substantially  correct  : 
moreover,  the  basis  being  established,  the  only  difference  as  to 
results  must  be  about  the  more  or  less,  while  the  least  is  suffi- 
cient for  your  general  conclusion.  You  shew  that  this  canal 
will  be,  to  the  state,  a  mine  more  valuable  than  those  of  Polosi 
to  Spain,  I  have  never  ventured  to  develope  what  my  judg- 
ment contemplated  from  this  measure,  because  1  had  learnt, 
from  experience,  that  results  of  a  certain  magnitude,  even  when 
bottomed  on  mathematical  demonstration,  are  treated  as  light 
and  fanciful  by  those  who  measure  the  whole  world  with  the  lim- 
ited standard  of  their  own  comprehension.  The  benefits  to  re- 
sult from  canal?:,  which  may  at  a  trifling  comparative  expence 
be  made  through  different  parts  of  the  state  of  New-York,  were 
a  subject  of  my  serious  meditation,  many  ye;  rs  before  I  ven- 
tured to  disclose  them  ;  and  even  then,  the  project  was  treated 
more  like  the  dream  of  a  scheeraer,  than  the  matured  reflection 
of  a  sound  mind. 

The  money  produce  which  you  exhibit  is  not  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage which  I  have  been  led  to  expect.  Improvements  assist 
each  other,  and,  contributing  to  mutual  advancement,  tend  to 
general  perfection.  The  great  vivifying  principle,  on  which  a 
thousand  astonishing  consequences  depend,  is  this,  that  what- 
ever saves  labor  rewards  lahor.    And  permit  me  to  remark  on 


12 


this  occasion,  and  in  this  place,  that  among  the  wonderful  ef- 
fects which  a  full  developement  of  this  principle  has  produced 
in  Great-Britain,  it  is  not  the  least  that  after  twenty  years  of 
war  expence,  at  the  beginning  of  which  many  who  are  consider- 
ed as  models  of  political  wisdom  declared  her  to  be  on  the 
verge  of  bankruptcy,  after  the  proud  and  generous  defiance 
of  a  world  in  arms  to  rescue  a  world  in  chains,  she  gives  this 
year  between  forty  and  fifty  million  of  dollars  to  the  continen- 
tal powers  who,  though  they  have  long  enjoyed  the  continental 
system  devised  for  her  ruin,  are  unable  to  defend  themselves 
without  the  aid  of  her  treasure. 

I  say  it  is  the  great  vivifying  principle  on  which  that  nation's 
wealth  and  power  depend,  that  every  thing  which  saves  labor 
reward*  labor.  By  diminishing  it's  money-price,  it  occasions  a 
new  diminution,  each  effect  becoming  a  cause,  so  that  each  is  a 
step  in  the  ladder  by  which  she  ascended  to  the  pinnacle  of 
prosperity.  I  say  the  money  price  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
real  price  :  for  money  is  but  an  instrument  of  transfer  in  the 
bunk  accounts  of  political  economy.  The  pecuniary  stipend  of 
a  laboring  man  represents  his  house  rent,  fuel,  food  and  raiment. 
In  proportion  then,  as  these  articles  which  form  the  real  sti- 
pend are  reduced  to  their  money-price,  his  labor  can  bear  a 
similar  reduction.  But,  causes  preceding  effects,  every  such 
reduction  contributes,  in  the  first  instance,  to  his  ease  and  com- 
fort :  and  only  ■fleets,  consequentially,  the  price  of  his  labor, 
by  the  competition  of  his  brethren.  Thus,  the  canal  which 
brings  fuel  from  one  quarter,  food  from  another,  the  national  ac- 
cuniu!at«on  of  wealth  which,  lowering  the  rate  of  interest,  les- 
sens the  rent  of  houses,  built  more  cheaply  also  from  materi- 
als more  cheaply  collected  by  workmen  more  cheaply  paid,  the 
labor  saving  machines  which  supply  cheaper  clothes  and  tools 
from  raw  materials  brought  by  canals,  more  cheaply  to  the 
manufactories,  all  these  causes  working  together  make  the  Eng- 
lishman's shilling  nearly  equal  to  the  American's  dollar:  ena- 
bling him  therefore,  to  sell  for  a  shilling,  wh.it,  by  the  high  price 
of  labor  consequent  on  the  manner  and  expence  of  living,  is  not 
made  here  for  less  tl  an  five  such  shillings  or  one  of  our  doL 
lars.  Now  it  is  self  evident  that  in  a  general  competition  for 
any  one  article,  they  will  get  most  of  i  t  who  will  give  most  for 


13 


it  It  follows  therefore,  that  those  who  will  give  the  most  for 
money,  in  other  words  those  who  sell  cheapest,  will  have  the 
most  money. 

In  relinquishing  the  large  revenue  of  which  the  canal  will  un- 
doubtedly be  susceptible ;  I  contemplated  two  objects  distinct 
though  connected.  First,  that  the  more  cheap  shall  be  the  trans- 
portation the  more  extensive  will  be  the  theatre  of  its  operation  ; 
and  secondly,  that  the  greater  shall  be  the  mass  of  the  products 
which  it  brings  down,  the  greater  will  be  the  commercial  inter- 
change of  returning  merchandize,  and  the  greater  the  encourage- 
ment to  manufacturers  by  the  encreased  cheapness  and  com- 
fort of  li  ving,  together  with  the  cheapness  and  abundance  of  raw 
materials.  It  is  here  that  I  look  for  ample  compensation  to  those 
parts  of  the  state  which  seem  to  be  less  interested  than  our  west- 
ern district,  but  which  are  far  more  interested  than  they  seem. 
You,  whose  mind  has  long  been  turned  to  the  contemplation  of 
such  objects,  you  will  not  be  surprised  when  I  tell  you  that  I  be- 
lieve the  effect  of  our  proposed  canal,  will  make  the  shores  of 
Hudson's  river,  in  fifty  years,  almost  a  continued  village.  Com- 
pare the  country  from  Albany  to  Waterford,  with  what  it  was  in 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-five.  Look  also  at  the 
effects  already  produced  by  your  steam-boats. 

But  it  is  needless  to  discuss  now  the  best  mode  of  managing 
that  great  concern.  You  shew  that  it  may  be  made  to  produce 
a  vast  revenue,  while  conferring  inestimable  benefit  on  our 
neighbors.  This  is  sufficient.  If  afterwards  it  appears  that 
lowering  the  toll  and  thereby  encreasing  and  extending  that 
benefit  would  be  still  more  advantageous,  the  legislature  will  act 
accordingly. 

I  am  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 


GOUVERiNEUR  mokris. 


j 


